Dream Wave
by Evide
Summary: Kouji finds himself lost in several strange new places with his brother turning up in each and every one of them... only he isn't exactly himself. All the places are connected somehow, but can Kouji figure it out before something awful happens? DONE
1. Chapter 1

Well, I have diligently worked on this, rewriting and rewriting over and over to get this just right. I am so glad that I got it out in May. I really hope it's interesting, and also thanks to rika195 for the extra assistance. The rest of the chapters will come during summer, and maybe this will be done in a few months or so. Hope you enjoy.

(Oh, my gosh... I forgot to do a disclaimer! Gomen! GOMEN! I don't own it! Don't own Digimon in any way shape or form... so sorry... I can't believe I forgot... -blushes- please, just read the story...)

_**Dream Wave**_

-prologue-

Kouji slowly awoke to the sounds of crying in his ears and black in his vision. There was no light, but at the same time there wasn't any darkness. His groggy, half-awake senses told him he wasn't in bed and he sat up quickly to get his bearings in line. He instantly regretted sitting up as his head span, the crying in his ears mixed with an annoying ringing.

The teen stood up as the dizzying subsided and scanned the black for the source of the sobs. Somehow, the sound saddened him; he didn't want to listen to it anymore.

Kouji was easily able to spot the source, sighing at the small, huddled form of a young boy. He had a mess of dark locks, his face buried in his knees and two pale, thin arms clutching his legs to his chest as he cried. Kouji felt himself soften as he silently kneeled down to the other.

"Hey, come on, stop crying," he said as softly as he could, just slightly annoyed at the sound of the other's sobbing. But when the younger boy's head snapped up both of them froze and Kouji felt himself draining of all emotion.

Their blue eyes net and the teen's jaw hung open slightly at what could have been an old photo of himself. The two could have easily been twins if only for the fact that the other looked about four years old.

Kouji's mind went blank for a moment, trying to process the information when one thought struck him. "Kouichi...?" It must have been him, that was the only explanation for their resemblance...

The smaller boy's eyes widened and he took in a slight breath. "How... How do you know my name?" He has a very small, high-pitched voice, cracking slightly from just have been crying. Kouji stared down at the other, his features standing out against the blackness around them. He took a breath then released it in a sigh.

"I'm Kouji... I'm your brother."

Kouichi's face turned to pure shock. "You... you..." his lips moved but he couldn't seemed to find the words. All his sadness and crying subsided to anger and bitterness. "NO!" the smaller boy stood up, Kouji doing so too, thoughts and questions going through both boy's heads like water that broke through a dam.

"Kouichi, I..." Kouji was at a loss, he didn't know what to do. What was going through his twin's mind? He had so many questions... what was going on?

"NO! You're not my brother! I don't have a brother! I don't need a brother! I don't need anyone!" tears once again cascaded down the small boy's cheeks as he turned around to run deep into the blackness.

"Wait! Kouichi, come back!" When his calls failed to retrieve his brother, Kouji ran after him, his head spinning. Kouichi was so young, he couldn't have known about a brother; the blow of something as hard as that must have hurt. Kouji would have probably done the same if that had happened when he was young. The thing was, why was Kouichi so young?

The teen ran after the other, noticing a door in the distance that must have been his destination. Kouji put on a burst of speed but was not able to catch the younger as he slipped through. If he'd stop to notice, the door was white in color with little gold and silver stars littered over its surface. But Kouji only grasped the brass handle, swung it open and raced after Kouichi...

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 1-

Sweet Dreams

Kouji stumbled into the grass, his mind flailing like a fish out of water. He stood still for a moment to adjust to the new scenery, blinking to get his vision clear. He was standing on a small patch of field, only room enough for the castle it carried and some feet of yard around the base. It reminded Kouji of the floating toy-land he had been to in the Digital World; the castle and field lost in some pale-blue nowhere.

There was no world, to speak of, only the giant floating white castle; the tips of the towers painted silver with gold designs over the white like spider webs of twists and turns.

Kouji slowly approached the main doors, which he could only assume were the main doors with gold painted on them to make it look like bars running down a gate. He barely even lifted his hand when the doors swung inward, leaving him to gawk at the inside. What he expected to be a very modern, huge, castle-like structure on the inside turned out to be a soft, plush room.

Kouji came inside and his feet sunk a good few inches with his steps as his eyes scanned the pillowed walls. The whole room was pink save for the toys that littered the air. A good amount of stuffed animals, blocks and other various kindergarten items floated through the air as if it were in some thick substance.

As the doors closed behind him, a soft ringing sounded through Kouji's ears. He shook his head but the volume only increased, reducing him to holding his head as the buzzing actually formed into muddled words. The pitch decreased a few decibels and the sound became clear enough to understand...

_/"When I was little... really little, I used to dream about a place where I could just think, you know? I used to dream about this magnificent castle... my dream castle..."/_

The ringing slowly died down and Kouji shook his head. That voice sounded familiar, but there was no sign of a source save for the light pounding in his head. But there was no time to lose, he had to find Kouichi...

His thoughts were interrupted by a swipe to the back of his legs. He cried out in shock and snapped around to have his gaze lock into two glaring red eyes. Kouji felt a chill run down his spine and he kicked the black cat away in annoyance. The feline hissed at him before disappearing up a stairwell.

With no other way out except for the way he had come in, Kouji had no choice but to climb after the cat, who had mysteriously disappeared entirely. The stairs climbed around in a circle, the closed-in, white walls limiting the teens movement. The white marble steps made a clatter as he climbed, when he finally spotted the doorway above him.

"Kouichi, are you up here? I'm sorry, I know it's a shock, but please, brother," Kouji stepped under the silver-framed doorway into a small, white tower room with wide, open-arched windows which Kouichi was gazing out of carelessly. The other made no indication that he had heard him and the older boy sighed, leaning on the doorway to catch his breath.

"Kouichi? It's me, Kouji. I'm sorry." It seemed only right to apologize, but again, Kouichi didn't seem to notice. Kouji took a few steps closer in concern. "Kouichi? Please say something."

The young Kouichi shifted on his feet and Kouji caught a bit of a sigh. "I... I lost something..."

Kouji took another step in. "Lost? What did you lose?"

"I don't... I don't know. I don't remember..." Kouichi glanced back at him with a sad stare that made Kouji think of a little lost puppy. He looked to be on the edge of tears, and Kouji felt a pang of sadness. /You can keep him from feeling alone and afraid.../ wasn't that what Takuya had told him?

Kouji was pulled back to attention when his twin gasped. The long-haired teen followed the other's wide gaze onto a mess of dark black fur and two crimson-red eyes. The older couldn't help but shiver; those eyes disturbed him, but he wasn't sure why...

The cat hissed and Kouji scowled in return, Kouichi shifting behind the teen's legs as the felines eyes landed on him. Kouji stepped forward, lifting his hands in a defensive position to protect the younger boy when the cat bared its fangs. Both Kouji and the feline lunged, and then Kouji heard a scream...

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 1-

-end-

Please, I would like to hear any reactions you had to this, and I am sorry it is so short. I don't know why it turns out like that, but it just does. If there are questions out there I want to hear them. I will try to answer all questions and reply reviews for this story as long as the answers are like...not important to the rest of the story. I will try my hardest to put the answeres in the story, so it really is a big deal. There a lot of metaphores in this, so hopefully it will all be explained.

Thank you so much, and please stick around to read the rest. Summer break won't slow me down! I am determained!


	2. Family Ties

Ok, that's it, I can't wait one moment longer! This chapter is un-beta'ed, or at least, no one else has checked over it. I am SO happy I got this out! So I guess, summer IS slowing me down. (sweatdrop) That's ok, though, because I'm still working on it, at least. Oh, and just for your information, this is not supposed to be Kingdom Hearts. I say that because the summary sounds a bit like KH or something...

Disclaimer: (didn't forget this time) I don't own digimon. There.

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 2-

Family Ties

The small, white castle room barely had enough space for it's three occupants, let alone their fight. The wide windows seemed to beckon them out to fall to their own doom onto the grassy planes of the floating piece of land, or to fall forever into the pale-blue nothing of the surrounding space. The tile floor of the small tower clicked with each step the three occupants made as they circled the room in a taught stance.

The teenaged boy glared daggers at his opponent, being careful to keep his arms out to protect another younger boy behind him. The attacking cat, with it's dark red eyes and slit pupils, hissed darkly, sending shivers down both dark-haired boys' backs.

"Kouichi, stay behind me" Kouji motioned with his hands, the 5 year-old retreating to hold onto the other's legs. The black feline tracked the younger's movements keenly, it's paws stepping over one another to face the two head-on.

The cat made a bloodcurdling screech and lunged, Kouji's quick reflexes kicking in to jump forward, intending to block it. The feline seemed to smirk and changed direction in midair to jump through Kouji's legs, and a surprised scream echoed through the castle.

Kouji slid to a firm stop and instantly turned around to find the younger Kouichi gripping his arm to his chest, a small trickle of blood leaking past his fingers as he gaped wide-eyed at the animal none too far from his feet. Kouji had no time when Kouichi dashed out of the castle room through a different door than which the older boy had come through. Kouji was instantly on his brother's trail, his mind spinning with questions, thoughts and worries. Whatever was happening to Kouichi... Kouji had to find out and help him. He had to...

A familiar, loud screech reached the bandana-ed boy's ears, and he took a chance to glance behind him as he started down the hallway through which Kouichi had gone. His eye's met enraged, red, animal eyes, the cat baring gleaming fangs.

"_What in the world is that cat's problem? What does it want with me or Kouichi?" _Kouji thought angrily, turning right back around and running down the hall after his "younger" twin. Barely after two steps, Kouji heard the cat hiss behind him, and then he had to cover his ears as a piercing scratching sound that reminded him of nails on a chalk bored sounded through the hall. Kouji noticed that his brother ahead of him hit the floor, desperately covering his head, trying to get away from the noise.

Kouji's mind was sent into a fuzzy cloud of confusion, not thinking clearly and he watched helplessly as the cat bounded around him, it's claws trailing along the halls the whole way. As the claws finally left the wall, Kouji found his senses returning to him, and ran after the cat which was gaining onto his brother's heels. Kouji could hear the younger boy's gasps as the cat's claws nicked the back of his shoes, and he felt a burst of speed overcome him, his eyes narrowing at each step that the feline took.

Kouichi rounded a hidden corner so suddenly that even the cat had to do a double-take, looking around itself and back down the hall to see Kouji gaining on it. The feline hissed as Kouji came down to it a blocked it's path, a dark anger gleaming in his eyes.

Kouji watched as the cat swiped at the hallway, its claws trailing along the walls to make for another round of excruciating pained noise. His eyes widened as the claws ripped away the at the halls, leaving three, long, pale-blue cuts on the wall. Kouji found the color very familiar and was reminded of looking out the window of the tower. That pale-blue was the same nothing that enveloped this piece of land, like an endless sky with no clouds, nor sun. The cat was ripping away the castle... somehow...

Kouji took a step backwards, his face contorted painfully as his hands were still perched around his ears in an attempt to block out the horrible nails-on-chalkboard screeching. As the sound finally died, the teen quickly retreated down the hall were his brother had disappeared off to, the black cat right on his tail... ironically.

Kouji had a little intake of breath when he saw a wall forming up ahead of him. It was a dead-end! But then, where in the world...?  
Kouji smirked when he sighted the brown door, which stood out very clearly against the regular white of the castle walls. Kouji reached out a hand, focusing on a brown handle against the door and lunged.

His mind barely registered the awkward texture of the door handle as he turned it desperately and threw the door open to retreat inside, quickly closing it and gasping for lost air. He was about to turn around to look for Kouichi when a warm voice floated to his ears.

"Oh, my dear! What in the world has gotten you so worked up, Kouichi?"

"Kouichi...?" Kouji turned around in utter surprise, expecting to see Kouichi and some other person in a castle room of some sort. What he got was something completely different.

He met the soft gaze of an elderly woman, with greying dark hair tied in a messy bun. She had a very pleasant face, contorted in surprise at the teen boy, seeming to be in the middle of cooking something with a white apron over her pink sweat-shirt and grey slacks. She smiled warmly at him and all he could do was gape at the scene of the inside of the house he was in. Or to put it more correctly... the scene inside the gingerbread house he was in.

The walls around them were most certainly made of gram crackers and ginger bread, due to the very distinct smell, which would also explain the odd texture of the door. All the counters and other hard furniture was made out of the same kind of edible material, and the couches seemed to be made of... Kouji lifted an eyebrow... made of cotton candy and marshmallows. Any decorations were done completely in a colorful assortment of icing, and Kouji could clearly make out a ton of other kinds of sweets, including but not limited to: gum drops, licorice, cookies, chocolates and even sprinkles.

Kouji continued to gape at the inside of the house, his eyes scanning the windows, sink and kitchen to his left, where the woman stood, and to his right a small living room. Straight in front of him was a hallway of sorts, leading to a few other rooms that passed his vision.

"Something wrong Kouichi, dear?" The elder woman snapped him out of his thoughts and he turned to look at her, wondering exactly where Kouichi was. But as his eyes locked onto hers, he realized that she was talking to him.

"Er... n-nothing," he said uneasily, wondering if what in the world he was to do next. If he told this woman, who obviously knew Kouichi somehow, that he was not who she thought he was... then what would she do?

"I wasn't expecting you for at least another hour, dear! My, it must have been ages since I last saw you..." The elder woman came up closer to Kouji, smiling warmly and examining him. "Oh, you've grown so much since I last saw you! And look what you've done with your hair." She made a tutt-tutt-ing sound and playfully shook her head. "Go on and sit down and Grandma will have supper reading in just a bit, dear."

So this was Kouichi's grandma? But that meant that she was his grandma, too, of course. He nodded dumbly at her and sat down in a marshmallow recliner, letting out a breath. He could stay here and take a breather, as long as his grandma didn't notice that he was actually Kouichi's twin... which seemed highly unlikely to happen. For now, Kouji could stay here and wait for Kouichi to come. But, then again, what would seeing Kouichi do for him? It seemed he didn't have any answers for him, anyway. But Kouji had to help his brother any way he could... and finding him was the first step towards helping him...

Kouichi had been five years old... but, why? And where was he in the first place? Not just the gingerbread house... but the castle, too._ "Whatever happened to that castle anyway?"_ Kouji stood up and out of pure curiosity, crossed over to the main door through which he'd came through. He opened the door slowly, half-expecting that weird cat to come flying at him with fangs, teeth and all, but he was only left looking at a normal piece of scenery that lead into a forest.

Kouji frowned at an unnatural thought that crossed his mind. "_A gingerbread house? In the middle of a forest? Isn't that a bit close to the references of Hansel and Gretel?"_ Kouji turned slightly to look at his... Grandmother... warmly making some kind of supper for him on the stove.

"Close the door, sweetie, it's quite cool outside and getting cooler." His Grandma smiled warmly at him and he obliged, shaking his head. _"This place is too weird to actually have a witch in it, anyway..."_ He thought to himself, and out of pure curiosity, he decided to take a look around the gingerbread house.

Actually hung up on the wall were cakes. Yeah, cakes. But each one had a picture on it of some sort. Kouji was tempted to taste-test the pictures, when a certain one caught his eye. It wasn't really any different from the others, but it just sort of stood out. The lighting was very dim, showing up on the white cake very well, actually. But the dim lighting told Kouji that the two in the picture were either in a dark room or outside at night. And seeing as there was a bed in the picture, and a roof and walls, Kouji easily ruled out an evening photo op.

The two people in the picture looked very calm and happy, the younger one perched up in bed with the covers over him. He had short cropped hair and Kouji easily recognized the boy as Kouichi at age five, just like he had been when he was in that castle. The other person was undoubtedly his mother, smiling gently with a book in hand. The book laid open in her hands and her eyes were frozen in it eternally, while Kouichi seemed to be in a sleepy awe. The conclusion? It was a picture of the twins mother reading a bedtime story to Kouichi when he was five years old.

Kouji hummed to himself, taking interest in the picture and studying it closely. In his mothers hands was the book, tilted just right so that the camera could capture the cover picture, which caught Kouji's eye. The book itself was pale-blue in color, and the picture on the cover was an exact replica of the castle he had been in...

"Kouichi, dear, supper." Kouji glanced at his grandma as she smiled at him from in the kitchen. Kouji took one last fleeting glance at the picture and came into the kitchen. Again, what he expected for supper, turned out to be a lot different then he imagined.

"We're having spaghetti, your favorite." His grandma smiled and handed him a bowl, apparently made out of cookie material. What was in the bowl, though, made Kouji's stomach turn. Instead of pasta noodles, there was licorice and instead of sauce, there was ice cream. An interestingly sweet combo... but still...

Kouji respectfully sat at the dining table, discreetly checking the cookie clock for the time. _"Grandma she wasn't expecting Kouichi for another hour... and it's been about 20 minutes..." _His mind returned to his meal before his grandma could object... but he was very carefully taking his time to actually start eating it. He didn't want to upset his Obaa-san... and if he didn't eat it, she might suspect something. _"Ok... Well, here goes nothing..."_

Kouji lifted his fork and shoved a liberal amount of licorice in his mouth. It really wasn't as bad as he thought it would be, and he ended up finishing about 3/4 of the whole bowl before a small conversation started up.

His grandma started. "Kouichi, you seem so quiet, dear. Something the matter?"

"_Oh, crap... what do I say? What would Kouichi say?" _"Er, nothing's the matter, Obaa-san." Kouji said, pushing the unfinished bowl away from him a little.

His grandma smiled just a bit. "You done already? You haven't even finished."

"Um, I'm not really hungry, that's all." Kouji tried to give a convincing smile and the elder woman nodded.

"Well that's just fine. If you want more you can help yourself." His grandma looked out the kitchen window to study the darkening sky. "It looks like you'll have to stay inside today, dear."

Kouji couldn't help but look outside, too; the grey clouds overhead making him shiver.

"You cold, dear? How about I fix us up some hot chocolate." Kouji snapped back to his grandma quickly, nodding enthusiastically. If there was any chocolate anything he liked, it was hot chocolate. His grandma cleared the dishes and started to fix up two cups as Kouji quietly came over to the candy television set.

Like the pictures on the wall, the television had a screen made out of a cake. Kouji made a face and pressed one of the gum ball buttons on the set to turn the machine on. The cake picture instantly changed from a blank black to a moving screen showing the weather on it. The teen turned the volume up and studied the screen for a bit, watching the different temperatures predicted and so on.

"We seem to be experiencing a thunder storm around in this area, so keep your doors and windows locked up tight 'cause it'll be a windy one..." And so on and so on.

Kouji checked the outside once more, watching as a small streak of lightning ran across the sky. After 11 counts, a small clap of thunder resounded weakly. The boy then turned to the clock again, watching as the minute hand slowly crept along. _"35 minutes... Kouichi will be here in about a half an hour..."_ Another clap of thunder pried his eyes back outside. "_Nii-san... please be alright..."_

"It's a good thing you came when you did, Kouichi dear. Or you would have been stuck out in this awful storm." His grandma mused thoughtfully, stirring the two cups of hot chocolate slowly.

"_When Kouichi does come... what's going to happen? Will Obaa-san freak out and kick him out... or will she think Kouichi is me? Or..."_ A louder clap of thunder resounded, almost determined to keep Kouji out of his thoughts. Kouji shook his head and watched the forest outside, waiting... hoping to see his brother run up any moment. _"I guess I'll just wait and see..."_

"Obaa-san, did you ever used to have a cat?"

"A cat? Why no, dear. Whatever made you ask that question?" His grandma sat back at the table and motioned for Kouji to came and sit. The teen smartly turned the TV off, then quietly sat down.

"No reason... I was just thinking..." was his whispered answer._ "If the castle from before was from that picture book... then what was the cat from? And... why is Obaa-san's house made of gingerbread, really?"_

"What are you thinking of, dear? You seem so quiet. Here, have some hot chocolate, hm?" She handed him a smoking cup and he took it silently, sipping thoughtfully.

"Those pictures on the wall. How old was... I?" Kouji almost stumbled and hoped that his grandma didn't catch it. She turned in her seat to glance down the hall.

"Oh, you were only 5 at the time. So cute when you were young." She sighed thoughtfully, then glanced at the table.

"How come there isn't any of me before then?"

His grandma slowly took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Now, why do you ask that, dear?"

"_Ok... so she really doesn't want to talk about it..." _"Ah, no reason, really. Just... curious..." He stared into the brown liquid occupant of his cup as his grandma stood from the table slowly. She hummed to herself and Kouji followed her back as she crossed to an old shelf and started to toy with the books.

"Curiosity killed the cat." She tutt-tutted playfully. "Here we are." She picked out a book and blew the dust off, smiling slyly. Kouji stood up, again out of his own curiosity. He came up to his grandma who gently gave him the heavy, hardback book.

"What is this?" he asked carefully, turning it over in his hands slowly.

"You remember when your mother used to read you stories?" She pointed to the book. "This is the Fairy Tale book. Do you remember, dear?"

"_How can I remember? I'm not Kouichi..."_ Kouji brushed more dust off of the covered book and his eyes widened slowly. He couldn't remember, but he didn't need to. This book was the same one as in the picture. With the same castle on the cover, and the same pale-blue as the nothing the castle was in. And in gold letters across the top was Fairy Tale.

He barely noticed his grandma as she went over to the windows to close the curtains over them. "It's old, but it was your absolute favorite."

Kouji nodded slowly, and sunk into a chair. _"I still have 20 minutes until Kouichi comes... and I need to figure out what this is all about..."_ He mused, quickly checking the clock. His grandma quietly sank into her dining chair with another of her books and started to sip away at her hot chocolate as she read.

Kouji opened the book and leafed through the pages, scanning and skimming the writing quietly. There was Jack and the Beanstalk, the Three Little Pigs, the Wizard of Oz, Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Rapunzel...

"_Hansel and Gretel... and the gingerbread house! Maybe that will tell me why this place is made of gingerbread."_ Kouji thought, flipping back a few stories. He read the few pages of the story fully -the wicked witch and the bread crumbs... the two little children made for a stew... but nothing seemed to give him any clue.

The teen sighed, not bothering to see how few minutes had passed, when another small clap of thunder was heard.

"Oh, dear. This storm looks mighty vicious. Kouichi, why don't you get some extra blankets from my room, dear?" The elder woman glanced at the dark sky and the smiled at Kouji.

"Sure, Obaa-san..." Kouji regretfully laid the book on the couch and went to the back room where his grandma's bedroom was. He silently pushed the door open and took a good look around the candy room. He found a small gingerbread closet and opened it to an assortment of cotton candy quilts and blankets. The teen just sighed and took a handful of them, starting out of the room before something on the ground caught his eye.

Kouji set down the quilts to take a good look at what was unmistakably a photograph. Not anything candy, either, but a genuine photograph. When he bent down to pick it up and noticed a small gram cracker box hidden under the shadows of the bed. _"Now really... what could Obaa-san possibly hope to hide under her bed...?"_

His curiosity purely got the best of him and Kouji sat down on the ground to take a look at the picture and the box. The photograph was of his mother, he saw... and she had a nice, plump, round belly, obviously pregnant. Standing next to her, with arms raped around her shoulders lovingly was none other than his father.

"_They look... happy..."_ Kouji smiled warmly, and set the photo aside, pulling the box snugly into his lap. With a small little _pop_, the box lid easily came undone and Kouji's eyes widened. What was not a candy stash, was a box full of old photographs. Genuine, none-candy photographs.

"Photos of... us... before..." Kouji slowly whispered... his fingers gently, gently running over the paper surfaces. There were pictures of two little boys with black hair, identical faces in almost each and every one of them. "Pictures of me and Kouichi... before the divorce..."

There was a clatter of glass breaking and a loud crash of thunder. "Kouichi, what are you...!" Kouji turned around to see his grandma's widened eyes scanning the floor around him were the photos from the box littered the ground. She took in a small breath and Kouji opened his mouth to explain...

When there was another loud crash of thunder and the unmistakable sound of the front door opening.

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 2-

-end-

So? How was that? You all happy that I finally finished chapter 2? Cause I sure am! I'm sorry about the sloppy beginning, and I'm really sorry if it's a bit too short for anyones liking, but thats just the way I write. I left another cliffie in the end, so I'm very pleased. Hehe. I really hope it won't take too long to get chapter 3 out as it did for chapter 2. And next time there's going to be some explanations! So please... stick around and tell me if it was worth the wait. (big ol' puppy eyes)


	3. Watch the Stars Bleed

Okies, I'm giving Kouji a lot of curiosity in this fic just because he just needs it. And the 2nd half of this chapter is a bit awkward, but don't pay any mind. It gets some questions answered, so who's to complain that it's really werid?

Do I really need a disclaimer for each and every chapter? Ok, ok...I don't own it. Happy?

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 3-

Watch the Stars Bleed

The small gingerbread house was very cozy, filled with furniture and all other assortments made out of candies and chocolates and the like. The small box that Kouji had seated in his lap, for example, was made of a gram cracker substance that could easily have been eaten if Kouji had the sweet tooth for it. Actually, the only thing that really wasn't edible was Kouji himself, his grandmother, the books, and the photos he was looking at that very moment.

Kouji's eyes were widened and he had on a soft smile as he looked at the photos, running his hands over them gently. Almost each and every picture contained the images of two little identical boys with black hair and the same, smiling faces.

There was a clatter of glass breaking and a loud crash of thunder. "Kouichi! What are you...?" Kouji turned to see his grandmother's widened eyes scanning the photo-cluttered floor around him, the box settled in his lap. Kouji didn't even have time to open his mouth when there was another vicious clash of thunder.

Then without warning, the front door opened, accompanied by a very familiar voice, "Obaa-san? Obaa-san, sorry if I'm a bit late!"

The elder woman stood frozen in the doorway, staring down the hall in utter confusion. The bits of the broken cup made a shuffling noise against the floor as his grandmother retreated down the hall.

"Kouichi, dear? Is that you?" Kouji could hear her voice shaking, and he hurriedly stuffed the photographs back into the box and closed the lid before putting it in his arms and racing down the hall.

"Yes, who else?" Kouji heard a bit of playfulness is his twins voice, and also a bit of confusion.

"Then, who is...?" Kouji stopped right as he came out of the hallway to see his brother wound up in their grandmother's arms, a look of confusion on both their faces as their gazes quietly met his.

"Obaa-san... I—" Kouji lost his words, his eyes carefully studying Kouichi's soaked form... Then he noticed that Kouichi was older than he had seen last... in fact, he looked about 7 years old now; about 2 years worth of growth since he'd last seen him, only an hour ago. Either something was really screwing with Kouji's mind... or there was something else going on that Kouji didn't get.

"Wh-who... who are y-you?" Kouji felt a pang of sadness in his heart when his twin said those words. What was happening here? Was Kouji supposed to come find Kouichi every year he grew and surprise him by saying—

"Kouichi, dear..." Kouji watched as his brother slowly pried his gaze from him and onto their grandmother. As soon as their eyes met, it was like Kouji was watching the exchange from the other side of a window. Suddenly, he was numb; frozen to the spot without any ability to move or speak, only able to watch and listen as the scene inside the window slowly changed.

The gingerbread house was no more, and the two people inside slowly changed position, and soon Kouji was watching his 11 year-old brother holding his grandmother's shaking hand on her death bed.

"Kouichi..." His grandma rasped very quietly and Kouichi's eyes widened very slowly.

"What is it, Grandma?" He asked shakily.

"You need to know, Kouichi... you have a brother." Kouji watched helplessly as his brother gasped quietly, eyebrows lifting slightly as his grandmother continued. "His name is Kouji..."

"Kouji..." Kouichi repeated slowly... _"My brother..."_

Though Kouichi had only thought it, Kouji could hear it as clear as if he had said it. Kouji tried to move, desperate to get to his brother, when he heard the soft, long tone of the machines on the other side. There was something familiar about the buzzing that went through Kouji's head, as his vision slowly faded to black...

_/"Mother used to read me fairy tales before I went to sleep... Sometimes I'd imagine my Grandma's house like that... like the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel..."/_

* * *

When Kouji opened his eyes next, he was standing. Standing somewhere... familiar. 

Kouji scanned the black around him, listening intently to any sounds at all. "_The last time I was here... I had seen Kouichi when he was 5. Then I had gone through the door that lead to the castle..."_ Kouji thought, looking around. There was nothing at all that he could see save for the endless black in front of him. There was no light, yet there was no darkness, either.

Then Kouji jumped as he remembered something. _"The photos!"_ Kouji shifted through his jacket and out fell a small, brow package which he quickly took, opening it up and pulling out one of the many pictures inside. It was a photograph of himself, and of course Kouichi, together when they were small. They seemed to be on a hill of some sort, just sitting and smiling into the camera happily.

Kouji couldn't help but smile back, and he returned the photo back to the package, stuffing it into his jacket. When next he looked up, he wasn't really all that surprised to see a small archway a few feet in front of him, of course with a door connected to it. Kouji gave out a silently small sigh and came up to the door, wrapping his hand around the smooth, dark-metal handle. The door was painted with a thin amount of blue paint which looked to be worn away just a bit to reveal regular white wood underneath.

A small turn, and the door easily opened for a fresh wave a cool air to his Kouji's face pleasantly. He hadn't really noticed before, but the blackness was actually quite stuffy, and the fresh, night air that filled his lungs gave him something to compare it with.

One step and soft ground gave way underneath Kouji's shoes and with the fresh sent of grass, Kouji could easily tell he was outside. His eyes adjusted to the darkness of the area quickly to see a small hill in front of him, and above him a twinkling night sky. The bright, white moon was just a lone scythe in the sky, surrounded by a blanket of shining stars.

Kouji took a few steps forward, then glanced behind him... to see that the wooden door had completely disappeared. _"Typical..."_ Kouji thought, annoyed, and turned back around to trudge up the hill. The soft grass was a bit wet with dew and the air was crisp, making Kouji grip his coat tighter around him as he caught sight of the top of the hill, and of course, something else there, too. Or really, some_one_ else.

Kouji quietly walked up next to his twin; who was laid down on the grassy hill with his hands folded under his head. Kouichi was about 7, almost as old as he'd seen him just a moment before, maybe a little older, with no trace of the storm he'd just been through anywhere on him. Without much else to do, Kouji sat down and after a few moments and laid back completely to watch the stars twinkle above him.

"Hey..." Kouichi acknowledged quietly.

"...Hey..." Kouji said hesitantly, shifting uncomfortably.

"What brings you all the way out here? Especially after dark...?" Kouichi asked. Kouji couldn't tell if Kouichi was nervous about his company, or maybe he was trying to be nice... He had to have noticed their similarity...?

"Hmmm? Well?"

"Oh... Ah... truthfully? I was looking for you." Kouji said nervously. If anyone was uncomfortable with this situation, it was obviously Kouji. Why? Well, maybe it had to do with the fact that his older twin brother was about 5 years younger than him and they were just casually talking under a perfect night sky. But it certainly beat being chased around a fairy tale castle by a maniac cat... or a gingerbread house, for that matter.

"...me? Why? I don't even know you." Kouichi's voice was purely curious, not really accusing and not really freaked out either. Kouji momentarily wondered if it was just because of the night time that Kouichi was so calm... or maybe it was just because of this freaky adventure, if Kouji could really call it that.

"Well... er..." _"What do I say? Do I just tell him I'm his brother? Will he freak out like he did when he was 5...? Or... do I just try to avoid it as much as I can? I'm sure he's noticed our similarity... but... do I lie?"_

"Well what? _Do_ I know you?" Kouichi's head turned, watching the other's face contorted in thought.

"Well, sort of..." Kouji trailed off uncertainly, slowly meeting his brother's gaze. Kouichi's eyes didn't widen from surprise of their identical faces, nor did his eyebrows raise of curiosity. He was just calm.

"Yes? How do you mean; 'sort of'?" Kouichi urged, shifting so that he laid on his side, his head propped up with his arm against the grass.

"Well... promise you won't freak out, ok?" Kouji turned to look at the sky again, the stars seemingly sparkling down on him reassuringly.

"... ok. Shoot." A small grin graced Kouichi's face and Kouji turned just in time to see some of it before his calm mask slipped on unnoticeably.

"Well, I came here... looking for my brother." Kouji said, watching Kouichi's reaction intently.

"...for me? I'm your brother...?" Kouichi asked slowly, and Kouji nodded. "Ok... why? Why did you come looking for me?"

Kouji was a bit startled himself. _"Was that a bit too easy...? Or is it just me?" _"Um... to figure all this out." Kouji scratched his head a bit, then leaned back to watch the stars again, hearing his twin do the same.

"Figure what all out?" Kouichi asked dreamily, his eyes clouding over as he watched the night sky.

"...I really... don't know..." Kouji said truthfully, baffled.

"Well... it couldn't hurt to tell me, could it? If you came all this way for me, just to figure this out, then surely I can help...?" The shorter-haired boy took a small glance at his companion, watching as he slowly closed his eyes and sighed.

"That's just it. I really don't know if you could help me... but you're here. So... I guess that counts for somethin'." Kouji stated flatly, opening his eyes once more to the moon and stars.

"So go on and tell me." Kouichi giggled slightly, flipping over completely to lay on his stomach, his fingers fiddling with the dewy grass in front of his face.

"Well... the last thing I remember, before all this —" Kouji stopped abruptly, trying to think back. _"What _is_ the last thing I remember before I came here? I remember the Digital World... of course... but that was at least two years ago! What else...?"_

For some reason, Kouji's mind was not cooperating with him, and the more he tried to remember, the more frustrated he got and the more hazy the memories became.

"Memory is a funny thing." Kouichi stated suddenly, and Kouji glanced at him to find his eyes closed in mild concentration. "Just start with the stuff you do remember. What is the first thing that happened when... this started?"

"Black." Kouji said quickly, turning on his stomach and laying his head on his arms. He closed his eyes and sighed. "There was just black; no darkness... but no light either."

"Just black." Kouichi confirmed, and the two brothers met gazes for a moment.

"...Yeah. Then I went into a castle... and then I was in a gingerbread house." Kouji made a face which made Kouichi smile a bit.

"Ok, so? What about all this is so confusing?" Kouichi wondered, tilting his head slightly to just catch the sight of the moon, as if just checking to make sure it still hung in the air there.

"Well... why? I guess... the question is why these places. And also, why I find..." Kouji looked at his brother closely; his eyes glazed over and a small smile still present on his face. _"Why do I find you in each one of them?"_

"You find... What?"

"Er... why do I find... why do I find myself in these places anyway? How do they relate to me?" Kouji covered quickly. He tiredly putt his head back in his arms and blinked slowly, feeling a bit sleepy.

"You mean a castle, a house made of sweets and a black area?" Kouichi folded his arms out in front of him, stifling a small yawn.

"...And this place, too. Why this certain hill...? Why... are you here?" Kouji asked, glancing at his twin and Kouichi looked back. Kouji waited for an answer, watching as Kouichi's face slowly contorted in confusion. There was a moment of dark silence as Kouichi thought, puzzled.

"...I'm here... I'm here... because this is what I remember." Kouichi said dazed, blinking slowly.

"What? What does that mean, Kouichi?" Kouji lifted himself from the ground, interested in what his brother had to say.

"I remember this place. I don't know what it means... I just... remember it." Kouichi shrugged, not bothering to watch as Kouji sat cross-legged in the grass, wiping himself off of the wet ground that had soaked into his clothes. With a brush of Kouji's hands over his jacket a small, brown package came out of Kouji's pocket and settled itself right between the brothers.

Reflex told Kouji to pick it up and not show it to his companion... but then that'd raise some questions from him for sure. Kouichi was too fast for him, though, and ended up sitting across from the longer-haired brother with the pack in his hands before Kouji could object.

Kouji opened his mouth, but not because he was about to say anything. Instead, his jaw dropped open just a bit when Kouichi offered him back the package without another thought.

"It's yours." Kouichi explained, a bit amused at the look on the others face. It was only polite... ne?

"No..." Kouji said, surprising the other, as well as himself a bit. "It's ours." Kouji opened the packet, taking out a small, familiar photo to show the other.

"Ours...?" Kouichi echoed, leaning in to look at the photo that Kouji had taken out. It was the same one that Kouji had seen while he had been in the dark area. The one with the both of them on the hill... when they were younger.

"Maybe... you can help me figure this out...?" Kouji wondered lightly, letting his brother fully take the picture in his grasp and study it more closely.

Kouichi sat gazing into the picture for a moment, then opened his mouth just barely to whisper out: "I remember this place."

Kouji's eyebrows knitted together in a bit of curiosity. Was this de ja vu... or was it just him?

"I'm here... because this is what I remember..." Or was it just Kouichi?

"Kouichi...?" What was going through his twin's head? _"Twin ESP would be helpful here!" _Kouji mockingly shouted to himself, studying his brother's eyes closely. _"The eyes are the window to the soul... right, Kouichi?"_

The longer-haired brother shifted through some more photos until he pulled out another familiar one. He slowly extended it out to his twin, who was still in a small trance as he took it, then slowly switched attention from the one picture to the other he'd just received.

It was the one he'd first pulled out. Where their mother was reading a bed time story to the older twin in bed. That was probably one of the few pictures that didn't have the twins together...

"Mother used to read me fairy tales before I went to sleep..." Kouji's ears registered hearing this from somewhere before... but he couldn't put his finger on it at that moment; much too focused on his brother than some silly recognition.

"You remember?" Kouji asked quietly. When he'd looked through the photos, he couldn't remember taking any of them. But then again, he also couldn't remember what happened before all this began anyway.

"Yeah... because this is what I remember..." Kouichi said slowly. Kouji felt his mind spin for a second. _"I think my brother is turning into a broken record player..."_

Kouichi shook his head, snapping out of his daze and slowly handing the photos back to the other. "Sorry... I guess I'm just more tired than I thought..."

"I guess... You wanna look through the rest, or...?" Kouji fiddled with the packet and took a few out, giving them a once-over.

"Sure. It might answer some of your questions... make it clear... hm?" Kouji nodded and Kouichi took a few more from the packet. Kouji's pictures consisted of the two brothers playing near a river; the two playing on a swing set; and of the twins in a crib together.

"Ok... so these are pictures of us when we were young. Big deal. What does that have to do with anything?" Kouji sighed in frustration. _"I wonder... am I acting too much like Takuya...?"_

"Maybe... it has to do... with everything..." Kouichi said slowly then closed his eyes in another daze. "If you look at it... that way..." He opened his eyes again, checking the sky for the familiar moon that hung in the air.

"What does that mean?" Kouji followed suit, looking at the moon with his twin. There were some clouds in the night sky, but it wasn't really noticeable because of the darkness. Kouichi shook his head, handing the pictures back to the other who put them back into the packet with his own.

"The pictures... might have to do with everything... if you see it that way." Kouichi repeated in a low tone.

"...Like how?" Kouji looked at his brother with questioning eyes, and for a moment he couldn't believe that he'd forgotten that Kouichi was 8. He had sounded so normal... or as normal as Kouichi ever got, that was...

"Like... the castle you said you went to." Kouichi said, hugging his knees, looking at his feet and his brows knitting in concentration as he tried to explain. "Wasn't that the same as the castle on the book in the picture?"

"Yeah, I know. But... why?" Kouji leaned back and laid down on the hill once more, hands folded behind his head again.

"Because... it's what... —" Kouichi closed his eyes together painfully, trying to think clearly. His head was spinning...

"Kouichi? Hey, you ok?" Kouji asked, suddenly worried when he heard the other moan slightly.

"Just a headache..." Kouichi laid back on the grass also, lost in thought. Kouji stayed quiet, feeling as if his brother was about to say something. _"Oh, NOW I have ESP. Sure... typical."_ Kouji inwardly rolled his eyes before Kouichi spoke up again. "I remember... when I was little... really little, I used to dream about somewhere I could just think, you know?"

"_Ok, now that is really familiar. Where did I hear that before?"_ Kouji racked his brain, still listening to his brother closely.

"I dreamt about a magnificent castle; just like the stories that mother used to read to me. My dream castle..." Kouichi just kept gazing at the moon, as if looking for something.

"Just like you remember..." Kouji stated in a whisper, not really sure if Kouichi heard him as he continued on in his trance.

"And Hansel and Gretel... you know the gingerbread house? I used to imagine Obaa-san's house like that." he chuckled lightly and Kouji glanced at him.

"Why, exactly?"

"I guess... just because... Obaa-san's house always smelled so sweet. It was just a silly thought that ran through my head... when I was younger..." Kouichi let out a sigh and Kouji noticed that he could just make out the edges of his brothers breath in the crisp night air. "...Stupid, ne?"

"No, it's not stupid. Not really. You were just connecting things..." Kouji trailed off, staring up at the sky in thought.

"You know... I wish I could go to the moon..." Kouichi suddenly stated.

"Hm? Why?" That was a strange and sudden topic.

"Because I remember something about it... See how it smiles like that?" Kouichi traced the outline of the moon, grinning just a bit himself.

Kouji fought down a tired yawn, "Yeah..."

"I remember that someone else used to smile at me like that... or something."

"What happened?" Kouji asked curiously.

"I dunno... I used to wish I could go to the moon and look down on earth to find what I was looking for."

"Used to look for what?" Kouji echoed, turning to watch his companion continue.

"Well... I dunno. I lost something... but... I think everything's ok now." Kouichi smiled at his brother and Kouji smiled back.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..."

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 3-

-end-

Hold on because from this lovely moment on, it's all going to go downhill and it's not stopping until it hits a tree! What is it you might ask? Why, it's the story, for goodness sake! Just you wait. This story is only halfway through and there is much more angst to be done

I'm really sorry if this chapter was a bit confusing. As far as the ages go for this chapter: Kouichi was 7 years old while in his Grandma's house, but 8 on the hill, and Kouji was, and will be from now on, 13 years. I'm sorry if it didn't sound too much like that, I guess I'm just so used to working with the twins as the SAME AGE! I really didn't know how old Kouji was at all until this chapter. Oops...


	4. Drunk With Tears

Finally, chapter four! Sitting at home sick actually had some good in it after all! But, ah, being sick might make this chapter seem a little funky. So, sorry for the wait and the oddness of it all...

warning: mild language and death

disclaimer: haven't done this in a while. No, I do not own!

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 4-

Drunk with Tears

"I used to wish I could go to the moon and look down on earth to find what I lost..." Kouichi sighed slowly.

"What did you lose?" Kouji asked, glancing at his 8 year old twin.

"I dunno... but I think everything is ok now." Kouichi smiled at his brother and Kouji smiled back.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah..."

For a moment the two brothers just sat there together in the night silently, enjoying the comforting moonlight that smiled down on them. The stars glittered in the dark sky so peacefully, mingling together to make the night just perfect. Just as the darkness and light should always be...

With the soft grey clouds obscuring the almost-full moon, missing only a scythe-like slice that was the moon's shadow. And the soft red glare that came from the moonlight and the bright lightning that...

"_Wait a second... wasn't the moon smaller just a second ago? And what's with the red light!?"_ Kouji's mind reasoned as his smile left him. He quickly stood up as a resounding thunder clap echoed in the night air. And suddenly, the world wasn't as calming and peaceful as it had been...

A small gale had picked up from the soft whispers of wind that had caressed the land beforehand, and the clouds that had once looked fluffy and innocent were dark and threatening with lightning hitting the ground like yellow whips. Rain started to pour onto the boys and Kouji quickly stood up, glaring at the sky as the young Kouichi stood up next to him, whimpering slightly at the sudden storm.

"Wh... what's happening?" He asked hesitantly, and Kouji heard a childlike innocence in his voice. Scared and unsure... frightened.

"Don't worry... Ever—" a sudden, loud, surprisingly close thunderclap cut off the rest of Kouji's reassuring sentence, startling them both.

"Ah, Kouji, look!" The eight-year-old pointed to the reddened moon, with an oval-like shape that reminded the longer-haired boy of...

"No... no way..." Reminded him of an eye, the clouds obscuring the moon in such a way to look like the pupil. But not just any eye... the red, glaring, haunting eyes of Duskmon.

There was another loud clash of thunder and the light blinded Kouji for a fleeting moment. He went to wipe the glare away with his hands and when he opened his eyes again... he was no longer on top of the hill.

"Kouichi?" he called desperately, looking around himself at the new scene. It was still raining, but not as harsh or threatening as before, and the grass underneath him had been replaced with hard, wet concrete. He was in a back area near his neighborhood, he noticed- a place were he liked to take his dog on a walk to get away from some of the more heavy traffic of Shinjuku Japan. Or, at least, it looked like his back neighborhood.

He found himself staring down one of the many ally ways that were positioned around him like a maze, and started down the shadowed path. If anything, his heart would lead him to his brother. That scared look that Kouichi had worn just before Kouji wound up here still lingered in his mind's eye. He felt saddened by that look, and wanted nothing more than to make that go away. He could help his brother... he wouldn't let him be taken away by Duskmon again. He had to protect him. And if Duskmon was doing this to them now, he'd show that corrupted spirit was true light was made of!

A few blocks away, Kouichi was wondering aimlessly through the area. His clothes were soaked, lookeding tired with sagging shoulders and groggy eyes. But then something caught his ears through the rain.

The backway that he was walking through was dark and shadowy and he would have totally missed the small, round ball of black fur if it hadn't been for the persistent whining that emitted from it. The nine-year-old's eyes slowly focused on the small heap, widening as he figured out just what it was- a little kitten.

The little thing mewed at him, as if sensing his presence as he squatted down on the balls of his feet as to not get wet. He looked at it sympathetically for a moment, then looked around as if searching for it's owner or it's mother.

"You all alone, little kitten?" He asked in a hushed voice that just barely got over the sound of the rain. To get the little feline out of the wet, Kouichi leaned over it to block it from the cold droplets, then held out a hand to pet it. The little thing leaned into his caress, purring loudly for such a small little kitten. It looked frail and weak, as if it had not eaten in a while.

"Are you hungry?" he asked in another hoarse whisper, petting it some more. "You're so... small." He said, carefully cupping the little thing in his hands. After a moment of hesitation, he asked the thing, "Can I really save you?" in a small voice. His brows met in worry and confusion, contemplating his next move before he shrugged off his backpack and jacket and carefully made it so that the little black fluff ball laid on the warm, drying interior of the cloth as he still bent over it to rummage through his sack.

"I was saving this... but... I think you should have it..." he muttered as he pulled out a brown lunch bag he'd fixed for himself just that morning, then out came a tunafish sandwich.

He opened the sandwich and dumped the tuna onto a napkin to set right in front of the little thing, it's mewlings starting to get weaker. At first, Kouichi's eyes were wide with hope that the little thing would lick it up, be all better and bound away. Any second the feline would be back to a normal, energized little kitten meowing it's heart out.

But after a minute went by, and the mewlings slowly decreased in number, the kitten not moving save for the chest rising and falling with it's breathing, Kouichi suddenly felt his heart sink.

"Go on... aren't you hungry?" He asked it, nudging it to encourage movement. The kitten just answered him with a fleeting meow, weak and light... then, nothing.

The feline died, right there in front of him... and the rain kept falling.

Life had passed before his eyes, and the rain still fell, as if nothing had happened. He felt suddenly cold, as if all warmth had seeped from him into the air around him and washed away with the rain. He barely registered as his eyes started leaking it's own salty water to mingle with the rain and drip onto his hands. Then he stood up and started walking.

By the time Kouji got to the scene, it had been abandoned save for Kouichi's jacket still on the ground, soggy and dirty from the rain. The napkin with the tuna was gone, stolen by some sly animal that had gone out in the rain to retrieve food like the mongrel it was, and the lifeless little feline still in eternal rest upon the jacket.

Without finding much else to do, Kouji knelt down and felt the cloth, taking note that it still felt oh-so-slightly warm and looked dry enough to tell him Kouichi had not left long ago.

"Kouichi..." Kouji muttered, standing back up again and leaving the jacket behind to go looking for his brother once more. "Where'd you go, Kouichi?" he asked under his breath, searching the rainy darkness ahead of him in vain.

Everything was so dark for all the clouds that obscured star and moonlight. Only the occasional lamps that littered the streets held light enough for any visual aid. He kept running straight, no turns at all, hoping that Kouichi would have done this, too.

When there finally was a give-way of the ally, Kouji found himself on the far side of a bank that lead to the beach. If he continued down the path he was on now, he'd end up on the bridge that overlooked the river that leaked out to the water. And were his brother was precariously perched on the edge.

He was about to call out, about to run to him to stop him, anything to prevent what happened next...

With a sickening _splash_ Kouichi fell victim to the river.

Kouji sprinted up to the bridge, leaning over the edge, calling out his brother's name over and over, the sound of the rain almost muffling his voice. Then, almost suddenly, Kouichi's head broke above the river, sputtering and gasping for air. His arms flailed in almost-panic, as if he'd not expected the water to consume him so fully. His moves looked uncertain, confused... and that's when it hit the long-haired teen.

Kouichi couldn't swim.

So he jumped in after him.

The water was piercing and cold and the wall of water that hit his face when he dived was enough to surprise him and make him retreat to the top of the water. He gazed through the rain, swimming along with the current to find where Kouichi was struggling to breathe ahead of him. The longer-haired boy's arms extended out to their fullest to retreat underwater and pull himself forward through the river, legs kicking behind him to quickly gain on his brother's struggling form.

"Kouichi!" He called through the rain, just before said boy's head went underwater. Kouji's eyes widened and he ducked under the liquid's surface himself. It was calm underneath the water, and it didn't sting to open his eyes. It was dark, but not to the point where he couldn't see his brother, who was sinking slowly.

Kouichi's eyes were shut together, bubbles exiting his nose and mouth as he sunk lower. Kouji let loose his own stream of bubbles as he scowled, swimming faster toward his twin. He came around to the other's backside so he could link his arms around and under his brother's arms to pull him up. When they broke the surface, they both sputtered for air, gasping and spewing access water that had entered their lungs. Kouji had to work to drag them both to the river's edge... where he met one small problem.

"Damn!" The bank that Kouji was reaching for was too steep for him to climb, let alone pull his brother up. Kouji had one arm around his brother, the other held onto the bank. There was no way he could get up from here, so he had to do it from somewhere else. "Hang on, Kouichi!" was his warning before he pushed off the bank and headed down stream. _"Just gotta get to the beach!" _he thought, holding himself and Kouichi above the water. But it was hard, as his arms were getting tired and the water was dragging him under.

But finally the river let out and the beach water was calmer and Kouji was able to pull them both to the sandy edge. They gasped and panted as the rain battered their worn forms, laying on the ground and letting their hearts slow.

"Why'd you do that?" Kouichi gasped, looking over at the other in confusion.

"What, save you? You were drowning!" Kouji shot back, feeling frustrated, wet and tired. "Why'd you fall into the water in the first place?" He asked, unable to keep out his anger from his words.

Kouichi just turned away in a angry sort of huff, and the longer-haired boy heaved a sigh.

"Sorry." he said in a short exhale, not looking at his brother. "I didn't mean to snap at you." He explained, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

"...whatever..." Kouichi replied, sitting up with a small groan, then standing. Kouji followed suit, determined to keep his twin safe.

"...I have a question for you." Kouji said after a moment, starting to travel up the beach and into the dryer underbrush of the trees around the two of them.

Kouichi just sighed a little. "What?" He asked in a tired, annoyed fashion that Kouji never knew his brother to have.

"How old are you?" He asked, trying to sound casual.

"I'm nine."

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 4-

-end-

Oh, lame ending. But I couldn't just stop the chapter right where they were drowning! Anyway, some explanation for some of the loopy-ness of this chapter is- a) I'm sick b) the beach and lake and water stuffs might sound weird because I live on a peninsula. In Michigan. My perception of a beach is the bay, kay? I had a weird way of seeing the water in my mind and I couldn't figure out how to explain it properly. Gomen.

Oh, and I finally got to use the Kouichi-can't-swim idea I've had in my mind for a while. I couldn't exactly find a good place to put that particular idea in some of my other stories. Which, I'm progressing on quite nicely. I've got a few that are in the makings for typing up, and there are acctually some nice plots!

So- as a heads up/foreshadow of some things are these titles: Strangled by a Ribbon, Return, Distance, Promise, Sleepless, and Sakura Monoxide. But don't get all worked up about all these; some of them might not be posted or may take a while to. I'm hope hope hoping that they'll all turn out okay. Arigato, minna-san!


	5. Seeing Double

I am feeling REALLY sorry for the long wait, but at the same time REALLY EXCITED and HAPPY! For, because I feel so bad, I am going to post this chapter and the next for you to enjoy. I had a GOOD inspiration. THANK YOU MUSE!

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 5-

Seeing Double

"You know... I think I heard somewhere... maybe read? that... when something is killed- or dies- the memories lift off of the body. What happened, what I read, is that a some person had witnessed a car accident and got too close to the body only for the memories to 'lift' into him; messing with his head."

Kouji wasn't sure why my brother was suddenly spewing out this information, but frankly, he was just glad the other was talking to me. The two of them had been sitting in an uncomfortable silence for a while, under the dry underbrush of a pine tree as they waited out the rain, and the silence rattled Kouji more than he noticed until Kouichi started up a conversation. It dawned on Kouji that usually, Kouichi would easily confide in him, and they always felt comfortable around eachother. But ever since... the 'dream' or whatever it was, it seemed he and Kouichi were very nervous and unfamiliar with eachother. So though it was an odd topic of conversation, Kouji was thankful that the other was talking.

"What makes you say that?" Asked the longer-haired boy, raising an eyebrow at his 'younger' brother. But Kouichi didn't look at him, didn't even give him a glance as he pulled his knees in to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

"Because..." he answered, and Kouji could pick up a hint of sorrow in the nine-year-old's young voice. He felt a small pang of worry and sadness himself, hoping that Kouichi would let him help, let him know what was wrong.

"Because of what?" Kouji whispered, gesturing gently to get Kouichi to talk, who turned his head the other way.

"Because... a cat died. And I couldn't even do anything about it. It just... died, right in front of me." Kouji's brows came together in worry and he subtly scooted closer to the young boy, not sure what he should say to him.

"Look, Kouichi... it wasn't your fault. It never was. How could it be? You didn't do anything that could have made it die." He whispered softly in worry, watching Kouichi's small shoulders shiver as if cold.

"But that's just it! I didn't do anything! I barely even touched it. Why'd it have to hurt so bad... why'd it feel like... like..." Kouichi trailed off, his broken voice dissolving into sniffles. Kouji scooted himself closer, his hand hesitating in the air before slowly falling onto his brother's shoulder. The long-haired brother was almost afraid Kouichi would just shrug him off, but he hadn't. He just sniffled some more, shaking his head lightly as his shoulders shivered under the other's touch.

"...I'm... I'm sorry, Kouichi. I'm sorry that... it hurt. I've had... something taken from me before, you know. Something very special practically die right in front of me. But, that didn't really happen to you. At least... at least it hadn't been your mother, you know? Life goes on, Kouichi."

"Stop it! Stop talking to me like you know!" This time, Kouichi did throw off the other's hand and Kouji quickly closed his lips, feeling saddened but covering it up with a small glower. "How do you know my name anyway?" The shorter-haired boy asked in his frustration, finally glancing at Kouji to let him see small tears starting to leak out of reddened blue eyes.

"Because I _do_ know you, no matter how much you think I don't." His harsh statement made Kouichi stare at him, and Kouji winced internally at the blank look he was receiving. The nine-year-old then turned his head away harshly, glaring out at the sea down below them.

"I know it wasn't supposed to hurt, I know that I shouldn't have been rattled... but it just hit me. It just died. It almost felt like it _was_ something special. Something... something I could help, maybe." He said this like as if he was ashamed at himself, letting out information to someone who was a stranger yet familiar, who seemed to know him. It was very strange. "But I couldn't even do that."

Kouji sighed to himself, not at all sure if he could comfort his brother. What was it he could do to make Kouichi smile? To just make him happy at this moment? "But why in the world would you wanna kill yourself?" Well, that certainly was _not_ the right way.

"...I don't know..." Kouichi mumbled miserably, letting his head rest on top of his knees in an almost tired manner. "...It was like, ...it hurt to watch it die, but then it's suffering kinda... 'lifted' off to me. It hurt so much... I just wanted that to stop." He sniffled again, and the fragile way that Kouichi just seemed to be falling apart in front of him made Kouji act, taking the younger into his hold, to protect him from the harsh cold or anything that wished to harm him. The nine-year-old didn't even struggle in the embrace, leaning limply against the other tiredly. "I just don't know..." He mumbled into Kouji's warming jacket, rustling around him softly, prompting him to burry his eyes into the fabric.

"Hey, c'mon now. Everything's okay. It's alright now." He tried to whisper soothingly, but it only seemed to invite a wetness through his fabric, salty tears caressing his skin. His hands tried to rub the other's back comfortingly, but the way Kouichi was situated, leaning on him so fully, he couldn't move his arms very well without having the younger fall out of his grasp.

Kouji just opted then to hug the figure in his arms closer, to let him rest against his chest, let him cry as he needed to. There wasn't a lot more he could think of he could do in this situation. He felt Kouichi's hands curl in against him within his jacket and he slid his eyes closed just to be able to feel his brother and not burden to look. By cutting away one sense, the others heightened slightly; listening to his brother's ragged, sniffling breaths, feeling every shiver of the frail body in his grasp.

He shifted to tighten his hold, opening his eyes. But he wasn't able to, as suddenly, everything around him was just... gone. There wasn't even any remains of Kouichi's body heat in his hands to indicate he'd been there at all. The world around him, the waves and the rain and the pine tree he'd taken shelter under... was now black.

"No. No, Kouichi..." Kouji growled, frustration bubbling up within him as his arms enclosed around the air to hug himself, gritting his teeth. He'd had his brother within his grasp, and this... darkness took him away! "Why can't you just leave us alone!?" Kouji yelled out at the blank blackness around him, angry and frustrated. "Kouichi!"

"_when something is killed- or dies- the memories lift off of the body"_

Kouichi's words echoed around him like water dripping onto a once-smooth surface, disturbing it with repetitive ripples. It made Kouji shiver, how those words seemed to bring a chill down his back and made him almost sick to his stomach. What was it about all this... this whole dream... that made Kouji just sick with worry?

What was it about the Castle that he'd first entered that matched the one in the picture perfectly? (The photos still within a small brown bag in his inside jacket pocket and not even wet for all he'd been through.) Or the Ginger Bread house with his Obaa-san? What was it about Kouichi's ramblings while on the hill together and why did it seem like he knew what this was about but couldn't tell him? What was his connection to all these odd places rather than his brother being in every one of them— and at different age intervals?

And why did the blackness around him just seem to taunt him and scare him like a child's nightmare?

Inner ramblings were suddenly cut short as the black ground he sat one shifted under him, making Kouji's eyes widen. There was a crack in the ground, spewing a muffled grey light from it's depths. And as if the ground was made of glass or eggshell, it shattered and Kouji fell through the ground with a strangled scream.

Only to hit the ground only a feet below him, startling him greatly and knocking the air out of his chest suddenly. His eyes had closed on protective instinct and as they slid open to search for some sort of disturbance, Kouji wasn't surprised to see the world around him had changed.

There was some sort of glass underneath him, clawing at his clothes and drawing drops of pink blood from his exposed hands. In fact, the very ground seemed to be made out of a glass-like metal, a steely glare hitting his eyes as they fluttered open and squinted through the silvery light. All around him were walls upon walls of mirrors, showing him his disheveled reflection staring back at him. He glared at his image, turning all about him just to meet all different angles of mirrors situated around him. A House of Mirrors.

The long-haired boy stood up and dusted himself off quietly as to listen for any other sounds around him. He was rewarded by an echo kind of whispering like wind, or moaning; a shuffling from deep within the halls. Almost like a predator, Kouji made his way through the halls stealthily... all except for the constant bumping into sudden walls of mirrors which made a loud clang and sent his teeth rattling. His hands were out in front of him for safety at all times, yet not even they could prevent against the constant confusion that the mirrors gave the teen. He felt like he was going around in circles upon circles, weaving his way through endless halls and never getting anywhere.

Wait, there! Kouji was sure he saw something. But, no... it must have just been his reflection...

'_Wait a second... that... it wasn't a mirror. It _was_ my reflection... my other self! Kouichi!'_ Kouji tried to dash in the way he'd seen the movement, but ended up running into another wall in his haste. After a hiss through his teeth could he right himself again, and he wasn't at all sure where his twin might be... _'Ah great... how am I supposed to find my _identical twin brother_ in a stupid house of _mirrors!?' Frustrated, Kouji swiped across his eyes to get rid of his dizzy vision, then turned in a complete circle to search for any disturbances. There was shuffling... off in front of him but behind a wall. He had to get around somehow. A right, can't go forward, another right, have to turn left... a left, straight... look. There used to be someone here, he could see because of the fingerprints. Had he been here before? He couldn't tell. He just had to hope his brother was around here, close.

He kept walking, watching as the mirrors started to get distorted along the walls, leading him straight. He could see something ahead of him; a room? Kouji cautiously entered a large, circular room with mirrors on each side, all distorted. One with his forehead enlarged, one with his legs elongated, another with his neck raised to the ceiling, one with his hair shorter, another that...

Hair... shorter?

"Kouichi!" He shouted, startling his mirror image, who raised his arms to his chest in sudden fear. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." Kouji soothed, taking a step forward, Kouichi stepping back through the wall into some sort of darkened room. He looked to be shaking mildly, his eyes slightly widened. "Kouichi, what's wrong?" Kouji asked, studying his brother closely, finding him at the age of 11; when they'd both met eachother. "Don't you know who I am?" Kouji asked softly, frowning as Kouichi turned his head to the side a bit as if retreating, his eyes staring at him through dark bangs.

"...Y-You're Kouji, right?" Kouichi whispered hesitantly, watching the other carefully. Kouji tried not to move much, trying not to startle the other as he spoke. "Kouji... I-I... wanted to meet... you..." His soft voice echoed slightly around the two of them, the younger boy hesitantly, slowly, reaching out a hand. Kouji smiled at him, encouraging, lifting his hand to mirror his brothers... when his eyes suddenly caught sight of something, widening in surprise. It happened so fast that Kouji couldn't have even reacted, watching helplessly as tendrils of darkness from behind Kouichi laced around him, suddenly swiping him back; away into the darkness.

Kouichi yelled in surprise, his hand extending to grasp anything in front of him, missing Kouji's hands by mere inches, pulled back by the darkness. "K-Kouji...!!" Said twin was rushing forward into the darkness without any hesitation, unable to follow the swift-moving vines that disappeared from his view.

"Kouichi, come back!" Kouji screamed in desperation, still running forward for all that he was worth. There! There was something in the distance! Some red, glaring light. It made him shiver, but he couldn't back down now! He had to get there, where ever it might take him, because that was where Kouichi was!

He ran like never before, gaining on the glaring red light before him. He could see his brother's anguished look on his face in his mind's eye, reaching out to him.

"I'm coming, brother, just hold on!!"

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 5-

-end-

OOooo... I like that ending... mwahaha! One more chapter to go! Mwahaha! BWAHAHAHA!


	6. Mine Own Grave

This one's a good one. **Bold** and _italics_ together is **_flash back_**! You'll see what I mean. ENJOY THE END OF DREAM WAVE!

_**Dream Wave**_

-chapter 5-

-Mine Own Grave-

He ran like he had never thought he would be able to, watching as the glaring red light came upon him. There was something bad about that light. Real bad. Just like... it reminded Kouji like the dark red eyes of the demented black cat he had first encountered, always watching him and out to hurt Kouichi. It reminded him of the storm that had haunted him while he had stayed at his Grandmother's Gingerbread House. It glared like the red moon he had seen on top of the hill... just as Duskmon's eyes had glared at him. This red light... it wasn't good, not at all.

"Kouichi!"

He was in another room suddenly, filled with a red light that glowed from the lantern hanging in the middle. There were scattered shards of mirror pieces and glass all around the floor, covering a rough red carpet. The walls were just plaster, angled purposely for the effect of shadows to take place all around the sides. Pulled back into a kind of nook of darkness was Kouichi, struggling at the binding ropes of darkness wrapped around him. The shadows were moving as if alive along the walls, creating shapes upon shapes of turning darkness. Kouji was about to rush to his twin when the shadows jumped out at him.

A cat manifested itself in front of him, hissing and screeching audibly. Kouji growled deep in his throat, hands gripping the air so tightly he might have drawn blood. Anger burned within him, like a fire that was being fueled with gas, making the hair on the back of his neck bristle. "Get outta my way!" He roared, lunging savagely. But as he met the shadows, all it did was flow around him and out of his hands, back onto the walls.

"Kouji! Don't let it get to you, please!" Kouichi cried, bringing Kouji's attention back to his brother. The shadows around him were moving over and along Kouichi's body as if caressing him. He looked disturbed by the darkness, his eyes darting from Kouji to the lantern in front of him, wincing each time the shadows loomed over his face.

"Kouichi." Kouji muttered under his breath in a slight sigh, then rushed forward again, senses heightened to watching the darkness around him. As expected, there were other shapes following him, his own shadow that was strewn across the walls coming to life, shaping itself. The red light from the lantern on his other side grew lighter suddenly, accompanying the deep, black darkness of his shadow... The shape was clearing itself, a picture rising out of the wall toward him. He turned from his place a few feet in front of a wide-eyed Kouichi, intent to protect him, standing here to face off against what was coming at him. The light was taking shape, the darkness was coming closer to him... it looked... it looked...

_**Kouichi had been tired lately, for some reason. Kouji could tell, but he didn't want to go and harp on his brother, as it seemed the elder twin had things on his mind. Every day he looked a bit more sleepy, and he was paying less and less attention. It hadn't really been anything he should worry about, not really. Sure, Kouichi was his brother, and he was just being overly worried. Kouichi had even told him so, over and over, whenever he tried to help or get information from him. It must have just been he couldn't sleep well, nothing to worry about.**_

_**Kouji had noticed that his own sleep was being affected. There were no dreams, just darkness, but every day he found it harder to get to sleep, staying up, not able to keep his mind from his brother. He didn't know why Kouichi seemed to be on his mind, but it worried him. His twin connection with his brother was just ridden with concern.**_

**_Kouji convinced his brother to stay over for the night, though the elder twin had been somewhat hesitant about the whole thing. When they'd laid down to sleep, there hadn't been too much of a problem. Not when they were together. The next week though was the worst, and soon Kouichi and Kouji both were looking for excuse apon excuse for them to be together during the night. After a while, not even them being together could help. They were up until late after 1am, in bed with insomnia, not wanting to tell any of their problem. They could handle it, just the two of them could tough it out together..._**

_**They'd been wrong.**_

**_Kouichi was suffering the most, having Kouji and his friends have to drag him most places. Whenever he fell asleep, Kouji tried to keep him asleep, just so that he could regain energy. The two of them were at the bus stop, on their way to the train station. It was kind of silly to take a bus to a train, but they hadn't been looking forward to dragging themselves all that way, so now they sat on the bench together, just waiting. Kouichi's head was bobbing, up and down as his eyes dropped. Kouji just shook his head, wiping his eyes sleepily._**

_**Kouji spotted a row of vending machines on the other side of the street, pop and coke and other caffeinated drinks that would last until that eavening.**_

_**The younger twin sighed lightly, getting up and stretching. "I'll get us some drinks, 'kay Kouichi? That might wake us up, ne?" Kouji muttered as he looked in both directions of the traffic, then ran across the street while pulling out his wallet. It took him a minute of blurry staring to figure out how much the drinks cost, and another minute to figure out what he wanted and which buttons to press to get it.**_

_**After the correct buttons had been pressed and lighten up he turned around to check on his brother across the street to see if he'd fallen asleep. His eyes widened, but it wasn't because Kouichi was asleep.**_

_**The elder twin was awake, but it seemed just barely, his eyes glazed over as he looked down at the small black kitten he was crouched over. His hands were trying to gather it up into his arms, or trying to usher it away, anything to get it out of the street. As in, to get it away from where they were right now.**_

_**Kouji had opened his mouth, barely even lifted his foot, worry already flooding his systems... there was a loud sound, but it was blocked out of Kouji's deaf ears by pure terror. A red light had fallen on the street and over his brother, seconds before there was a sickening screech and a deafening crash like lightening.**_

The familiar darkness had taken the shape of a speeding car, the red light it's headlights. He was watching as the thing speeded up to him, watching through Kouichi's eyes as his bangs blew out of the way from the furious wind. Then, with complete silence, the darkness hit him.

Kouji and Kouichi were sent tumbling into the darkness, arms up to fend themselves from the pain of the crash. They span together in a heap, rolling to a stop in the blank blackness. There was silence around them. It was stunningly silent.

Kouji's eyes opened to stare at the ceiling of the darkness in confusion and shock, chest heaving in air to his sore lungs. He could feel Kouichi beside him, hear his hacking coughs as he pulled in breath. _"What had happened?"_ that singular thought made Kouji sit up and groan with aching pain, looking over to his brother's huddled form on the blackness around them.

"Kouichi! Kouichi, wake up! Are you okay?! Please, Kouichi!" Kouji shook the prone form in worry, his voice a clear indicator of his panic. Kouichi seemed to groan with the shake, moving under Kouji's touch. The longer-haired twin immediately helped his brother sit up, startled to find Kouichi crying. "Kouichi, what's wrong?!"

"I-I'm sorry Kouji... I c-can't take it... I'm s-s-sorry..." He sobbed, cheeks glistening with tears. Kouji felt his heart race when he spotted something gleaming in his brother's hands. A knife. The silver blade was curved sharply, shining with unseen light to glare into Kouji's eyes. The hilt was red and black, and there was an eye shaped into the hilt.

Duskmon.

"Kouichi! What...?!" Kouji gasped when he saw the blade, about to pluck it out of his brother's grasp when Kouichi pulled away suddenly, leaving him cold. "No! Don't do anything Kouichi! Don't do this!"

"I just can't bare it, Kouji! It hurts too much..." Kouichi muttered miserably, holding the knife in two hands as he moved away.

"Kouichi, please! Don't!" Kouji was afraid to move, afraid of what Kouichi might do. He knew his brother would never hurt him, but he might hurt himself. "Don't, Kouichi!" Tears started to prick at his eyes, sadness filling his heart. "You can't do this! You have too much to live for!"

"Like what?" Kouichi asked, turning the shining blade toward himself.

"Like mother! Like our friends! You can't give all that up! All that you've got going for yourself!"

"I'm sorry! I just can't take it!" Kouichi sobbed, readying the knife with a tear-filled vision. Kouji couldn't move, he couldn't do anything as Kouichi lifted the knife away from himself...

"Kouichi, you have me!" and the knife stopped it's thrust and Kouichi stopped to listen. "Kouichi, I would do anything to make you happy! Please, don't!"

"I can't... not unless you understand..." Kouichi mumbled, sniffling heavily.

Kouji shook his head to clear his vision, working out the corks and screws imbedded in his mind... this place, this dream, was it only that? This memory...

"It's... your memories." Kouji stated, and suddenly, Kouichi turned and smiled at him.

The darkness was starting to lift, Kouji watching as the world around him started to disintegrate, the darkness was crumbling.

"Wait!" Kouji shouted, directing himself at his brother. "What will happen to you! What's wrong!? Kouichi?!"

Kouichi extended a clutched fist, and Kouji noticed that the blade was suddenly gone. The longer-haired brother watched as Kouichi's fingers slowly uncurled, revealing a single, white feather.

"For you, brother," he said quietly, placing it into Kouji's numb hands before he too, was gone as an image with the darkness.

When Kouji woke up, there was only light around him. The glaring light of the hospital. He was running, which was odd, because he had only woken up. But still, he was rushing through as if he knew where to go... but he didn't.

_/"When I was little... really little, I used to dream about a place where I could just think, you know? I used to dream about this magnificent castle... my dream castle..."/_

The Castle Kouji had been to, it had been in Kouichi's dreams, somewhere to retreat to after the harshness of the divorce. Kouji kept running, down the long, endless halls, a sort of dread engulfing his senses.

_/"Mother used to read me fairy tales before I went to sleep... Sometimes I'd imagine my Grandma's house like that... like the gingerbread house in Hansel and Gretel..."/_

The Ginger Bread house was how Kouichi remembered his grandmother's house; as a warm treat. Kouji's feet banged against the hard ground loudly in his haste, he knew he had to get there, and he had to hurry!

"...I'm here... I'm here... because this is what I remember."

The hill was a nice place Kouichi always used to go, somewhere he could just watch the stars. Doors apon doors, people apon people, Kouji would never get their in time!

The backway of the alley was Kouji's neighborhood, the mirrors were his twin, the darkness was his nightmares.

"Kouichi!" Kouji called, rushing up to his brother's side, laying lifeless on the hospital bed. There was a machine next to him, beeping faintly. He was dying. "Kouichi! Please, brother!"

_**Kouji ran to the lifeless figure of his brother, laying sprawled on the concrete ground. His eyes were open, staring at nothing. Kouji looked into them, could see his memories, could see all that he'd been through. See his pain, feel him, just as twins do. Everything about Kouichi just lifted into him, and he felt a great weight on him, then... nothing. Black.**_

"Kouichi! WAKE UP!"

...there was a long, sigular beep on the monitor.

* * *

Kouji was suddenly up in his bed, his breath coming in great gasps. Fear was still beating within his veins, pumping through his blood which was having a hard time getting to his head, making him dizzy. But he couldn't lay down, not now. His hands shook, gripping the covers tightly with balled fists, making sure to keep his gaze ahead of him, glaring at nothing. 

What was it?

His shivers started to cease, and his breath started to calm, but his fear had only been replaced with a growing worry. He tumbled out of the side of his bed onto the floor, where the blankets were all bunched up together. One hand extended hesitantly over the lump, the other clutched in on itself, then, gathering his courage, Kouji withdrew the blankets.

The other stirred, and turned his head, blinking up at him sleepily, sweetly.

"What is it, Kouji?" He asked, titling his head in curiosity. But Kouji only sighed, letting all his fear and worry escape onto the dry air of the dark room he was in.

"It's nothing, go back to sleep." Kouji said back, patting the other's head kindly before shuffling back into his bed and staring at the wall. He noticed his fists were still clenched still, and he opened his hand to a single white feather.

There was silence for a moment, then:

"Kouji? Will you come sleep with me?"

Kouji smiled to himself, putting away the feather and rolling down off the bed again to lift the covers and pull himself closer to the other.

"Alright."

"Thanks, Kouji."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, brother."

_**Dream Wave**_

-END-

That's it!!!! THAT'S ALL! And that was just brotherly moments between them, kk? Alright? YAAAY!!! Any questions and I shall answer!! Though, it wasn't TOO confusing... was it? Haha!


End file.
